Truth Uncovered

Eleanor Finch was arrested twice in 1916 for picketing the White House with a "Votes for Women" sash. She was 26, a stenographer, and paid her own bail by typing legal briefs at night. This portrait was taken to send to her mother, who disapproved but kept it in her Bible anyway. Four years later, Eleanor voted for the first time and cried all the way home.

#1916

James Walker played piano in a basement club in Harlem during Prohibition. He never drank, but he knew 400 songs by heart. In 1926 police raided the club three times. Each time he went back the next night. Music was not illegal, he said, only the room it lived in. He later taught jazz to children for free for 30 years.

In 1850, Lee Yuen opened a provisions store on Sacramento Street in San Francisco, selling rice, tea, and picks to miners. He kept accounts on an abacus and extended credit when banks would not. This portrait was sent home to Guangdong. He survived anti-Chinese taxes and fires. His store became a hub for letters from China. He built community before he built wealth.

#1850

In 1974, Judy Hoback typed memos in the White House typing pool while Watergate unfolded down the hall. She was 26 and noticed shredding at night. She later testified. This portrait honors secretaries who kept records when power wanted them gone. She said typing was not just a job, it was a witness.

#1974